Senate Democrats to White House: Fix Obamacare

Democratic senators have a warning for the White House: Fix Obamacare’s problems or put Senate seats at risk next year.

In interviews, Democratic senators running in 2014, party elders and Senate leaders said the Obama administration must rescue the law from its rocky start before it emerges as a bigger political liability next year.

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Democratic senators from red states — the most vulnerable incumbents up for reelection next year — voted for Obamacare and have been among the law’s biggest champions, believing that voters would embrace it once they experienced its benefits. They could end up being some of the law’s most prominent casualties if its unpopularity continues to grow.

If voters continue experiencing problems like a balky website, canceled policies and higher premiums, the fallout could be brutal next November, Democrats acknowledge.

Asked how it would affect Senate Democratic candidates in 2014, the No. 2 Senate Democrat said: “If it’s fixed, and when it’s fixed, that will decide whether the issue is a big issue next year.”

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, added this when asked whether the law would be a problem for his candidates next year: “It all depends on the implementation.”

Democrats are clearly anxious to see the issue resolved because their most at-risk senators in 2014 voted for the measure on Christmas Eve 2009. Those Democrats — Mark Begich of Alaska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina — all have defended the law in the face of GOP attacks. But their frustration with the White House is showing, whether it’s Pryor and Hagan backing an extension of Obamacare’s enrollment period, Landrieu proposing legislation to ensure insurance policyholders won’t lose their existing coverage or Begich voicing his fury with the White House.

Asked whether the White House’s credibility had been shot through this latest episode, one Democratic senator said: “You got to have it, to lose it.”

Even publicly, some aren’t afraid to vent.

“Very high,” Begich said when asked about his frustration with the White House over Obamacare. “Personally, I spend time going to this website, going on it — giving criticism — trying to push the envelope on some of these issues and yelling at them more than once. It’s frustrating because we should be able to get through this. I really do believe we will.”

Asked how it could affect his bid for a second term next year, Begich said: “We’re a year out. … I’ve always said this: ‘This bill needs work, has always needed work.’”

While acknowledging problems, the White House says it is making an enormous push to ensure that the law’s hangups will soon be fixed and that millions of uninsured Americans will eventually be able to receive low-cost, quality health care coverage.

Senior administration officials argue that Democrats will be able to sell a positive story to the public over the insurance reforms enacted in the landmark law — and that the hiccups now being experienced will be largely forgotten by next year. At a private meeting last week between Senate Democrats and senior administration officials, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough reiterated that message: The law is fundamentally sound and the administration is working overtime to fix the problems, attendees said.

But administration sources acknowledge that if the problems grow, vulnerable Democrats could increasingly join the GOP’s call to delay major portions of the law, such as the unpopular mandate to purchase health insurance, putting major pressure on the White House to follow suit. For now, many Democrats are putting their faith in the administration to fix the problems, whether they’d like to or not.